Les Français peints par eux-mêmes. Encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle - Le prisme [Avec] Les Anglais peints par eux-mêmes

- Léon Curmer, Paris 1840-1842, 18x26,5cm, 11 volumes reliés. - Les Français peints par eux-mêmes. Encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle - Le Prisme [with] Les Anglais peints par eux-mêmes [The French painted by themselves - The English painted by themselves] Léon Curmer | Paris 1840-1842 | 18 x 26,5 cm 11 volumes in half morocco First edition, one of the grand papier (deluxe) copies with two states of the illustrations for the 8 volumes of Les Français peints par eux-mêmes: one in black on tinted paper, and one enhanced by hand using the so-called "coloris gommé" technique with watercolour and varnish on white paper. Les Anglais peints par eux-mêmes includes the engravings in black. No deluxe copies in colour have been made for this rare set of Les Français. Bound in half brown morocco, spine in five compartments enhanced with stipple engraving and double gilt panels richly decorated with gilt floral motifs framing a mosaic medallion of green morocco with a gilt rose stamped in the center, cartouches at the top decorated with a gilt garland framing the place and publication date, some light minor rubbing on some compartments, gilt fillets on the marbled paper boards, comb-patterned endpapers, top edges gilt. Elegant late nineteenth century bindings signed Durvand-Thiret. Complete with all engravings along with added engravings, i.e. 930 engravings including 415 in colour. Title pages dated 1841 for all volumes of Les Français except for volume 5 of Les Parisiens and volume 3 of La Province dated 1842. Les Français peints par eux-mêmes has 415 engravings in black (including that of Napoleon on horseback) instead of the 405 announced and 415 in colour including a double page map of France in volume III of the Province. The English volume illustrated by Kenny Meadous is complete with 100 plates in black. This unique set contains in total almost a thousand black and coloured engravings and more than 1500 in-text illustrations. Famous gallery of woodcut portraits depicting the social classes of the 19th century by the greatest artists of the time: Gavarni, Daumier, Delacroix, Grandville, Johannot, Bellangé, Charlet, Daubigny, etc. The portraits are all accompanied by original texts from the most famous Romantic authors, including: Balzac, Nodier, Gautier, Nerval, Gozlan, Janin, Karr, etc. Scarce foxing affecting mainly the Prism and the Anglais. The texts and illustrations of the book paint a lively picture of inhabitants and their trade in metropolitan France and its colonies. It sets the tone for panoramic literature - a new genre coined by Walter Benjamin in Charles Baudelaire. A lyric poet at the height of capitalism. In addition to these portraits of the Français, "the contribution of a whole areopagus of great and small authors and illustrators" (S. Le Men, "La 'littérature panoramique' dans la genèse de la Comédie Humaine: Balzac et Les Français peints par eux-mêmes", L'Année balzacienne 2002/1 (No. 3) CAIRN) includes some of the most renowned authors and cartoonists of the time, each of whom made an original creation for the project. This protean fresco was directed by editor Léon Curmer, already known for the publishing success of Paul et Virginie between 1836 and 1838. Curmer is represented here by an article, "L'éditeur" in volume IV written by Elias Regnault. The latter takes example in Louis-Sebastien Mercier's Tableau de Paris, published in 1781, whose vision is even further extended by the representation of French provinces in Les Français. Thanks to Curmer the work finds an even deeper meaning: "the editor has widened his frame, and instead of letting a few fleeting portraits get lost in the immense daily whirlwind that engulfs all things, he has sought to bring together the most salient physiognomies of that time." (S. Le Men, Ibid.) Curmer selected the authors and illustrators closest to the ones they depict: "It is therefore a question of calling upon authors and illustrators who are well